One of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee members, David Blanchflower, broke ranks this month and voted to cut interest rates by a quarter point.

And while the rest of the committee preferred to leave Bank rate steady at 5.75%, they all agreed that the crisis in global credit markets would hit the economy, which markets are likely to take as a signal that rate cuts are on their way.

"The preparation of the November Inflation Report and its projections would give the committee more opportunity both to assess the impact of market turbulence and other developments in order to reach a more considered judgement and to explain its policy stance," minutes of the meeting said.

MPC members argued since a cut had not been widely expected this month, there was a danger that any easing would be read as a sign the economy and inflation were shifting decisively downwards.

"It was possible that a cut in rates this month could be misinterpreted as a signal that monetary policy was focused on supporting the financial system and not on meeting the inflation target," the minutes said.

However, the case for lowering borrowing costs immediately, put by Mr Blanchflower, included the idea that an immediate cut could prevent a sharp slowdown and be reversed quickly if necessary.

Against that, MPC members felt it was important to allow the economy to slow at least as much as predicted in the last inflation report in August.

Moreover, the credit crunch in financial markets had so far had little impact on consumer or business confidence.

But Mr Blanchflower wanted a cut because he thought the growth outlook published in the MPC's August inflation report had already looked a little optimistic and downside risks had increased since then.

Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics said he thought the MPC would not cut rates until early next year.

"October's UK MPC minutes support the view that the majority of committee members are in no desperate rush to cut interest rates. The rest of the committee appear to believe that, while downside risks to the economy have increased, there is no urgency to act."

Separately, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed wage growth picked up in the three months to August and by more than expected, something that may alarm the more hawkish members of the MPC.

The ONS said average earnings rose 3.7% in the three months to August from a year earlier, slightly higher than City pundits had expected but still well inside the MPC's 4.5% comfort zone.

The increase was mainly driven by private sector services on the back of bonuses in financial services and transport and communications.

The figures also showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 12,800 in September, the biggest fall since June and more than double analysts' forecasts. It was the 12th consecutive monthly fall in that measure, the longest run of declines since the June 2003-Jan 2005 period.

The internationally-comparable measure of unemployment showed a fall of 5,000 in the three months to August, leaving the jobless rate at 5.4%.